Michael Carrick Says He Is Happy to Be Learning From ‘One of the Best’ Jose Mourinho

Michael Carrick believes that Jose Mourinho is “one of the very best” managers in football, and insists that he could not be learning his trade from anyone better.

Carrick was set to leave Manchester United in 2016 after his contract was allowed to expire under previous manager Louis van Gaal, but one of Mourinho’s first decisions upon being appointed was to phone Carrick and request that he stay at Old Trafford.

Carrick only ended up playing two matches last season before he hung up his boots to take a coaching role under Mourinho. It hasn’t been an easy start to the season but Carrick believes he is learning quickly.

“He’s proven to be one of the very best around for so long so I’m in that position where as well as helping him, I’m learning all the time and you can’t learn from many better than him,” said Carrick, quoted by ​the Mirror.

Carrick admits that he was in a state of uncertainty during the final year of his career, not knowing whether Mourinho would want to keep him on.

“It wasn’t a given by any means. For him to do that for me is quite a big thing and I’m well aware of that. I am trying to support him as best as I can,” he added.

“It’s the day-to-day things, his decisions. From outside and as a player you assume it’s easy and it’s definitely not but he’s a world class manager.”

Carrick also revealed that legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson was the man who persuaded him to do his coaching badges while he was still playing for the ​Red Devils.

“Sir Alex was always going on at us, ‘Get your badges done.’ There was a group of ten or so doing it, Fletch [Darren Fletcher], a few others and I went down that path,” he said.

“It was TV or coaching and I wanted a plan for when I finished. But you never know what options you will get offered.”

Carrick is one of several former England players going into coaching this season, along with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry.